Richard Fidler is an Australian author and radio broadcaster. His hour-long, in-depth interview program, Conversations, is the most popular podcast in Australia, generating more than 30 million program downloads each year. Richard is the author of two books that blend history with personal memoir. Ghost Empire, his first book, brings to life the history of the dazzling Byzantine empire, centred around the legendary Constantinople. His second book, Saga Land (co-authored with Kári Gíslason), is a journey into the Viking sagas of Iceland.

Ghost Empire: A Journey into medieval Constantinople

FRI, Mar 22, 12:00

Richard Fidler is the author of Ghost Empire, a history of the medieval Roman city of Constantinople. A thousand years ago, Constantinople was the greatest and richest metropolis in Europe. People from all over the world described it as a mirror of heaven. The Vikings called it ‘Miklagard’, the Big City. In China, it was known as Fu-Lin, a city of enormous granite walls and fantastical creatures. Positioned on the threshold of Europe and Asia, Constantinople became one of the world’s great centres of trade and culture. Yet the story of the city, and the great empire it ruled over, has largely been forgotten in the West. Richard Fidler and Paul French discuss the story of this lost city, and how its culture continues to haunt the world.

Moderated by Paul French